Irish Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah in Herzog Park

MEMBERS OF THE Jewish community came together in Herzog Park in Dublin this evening to celebrate the festival of Hanukkah. 

The gathering was attended by Ireland’s chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder and Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan. 

Hanukkah, which takes place over eight days every year, began yesterday. 

The celebrations have been overshadowed by the mass shooting of Jewish people at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, yesterday. The attack left 16 people dead, including one of the two gunmen. 

Rabbi Wieder told RTÉ News the attack in Australia was “absolutely sickening” and that “the grief is immense”. 

“The terrorists that carried out this attack yesterday, they want Jews in Sydney and around the world to live in fear, and our response is absolutely clear – we are here, we are going to continue to thrive,” he said.

He said the Irish Jewish community was “proud and we are not going to cower”.

Wieder thanked the Gardaí for their support and Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly in particular, whom he met yesterday. 

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“There has been an increase in antisemitic incidents” in Ireland, Wieder said, saying swastikas had been daubed at Herzog Park. He also referenced an attack on a Jewish man in a pub in Dublin, among other incidents. 

O’Callaghan said he was “very honoured” to be there at the invitation of the chief Rabbi. 

“Today is a very difficult day for the Jewish community and, indeed, for all of us because of the horrific, murderous, antisemitic attack that we saw yesterday in Bondi Beach. 

He said he thought it was “extremely important” that a representative of the government attend this evening. 

He said Jewish people “are an extremely important part of our community” and it was “an absolute imperative that they are protected and respected within Ireland”.

The event in Herzog Park, which is named after the Irish-born former Israeli president Chaim Herzog, comes after Dublin City Council to remove the name caused controversy in Ireland and abroad. 

Before becoming president of Israel in the 1980s, Chaim Herzog, who was born in Belfast and grew up in Dublin, was a paramilitary, soldier, intelligence officer, lawyer and diplomat. 

His granddaughter was among those who attended this evening’s event. 

The Dublin City Council motion, which was openly opposed by the government, was withdrawn by after questions were raised about its legality. It had been put forward in the context of the genocide in Gaza. 

At the time, O’Callaghan said it was “unfair” to change the name because of Israel’s actions in Palestine. 

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